Lake Tali Karng has been on my list for years now. A hidden lake high up in the mountains on the edge of the Avon Wilderness with no vehicle access, just a walking track. What’s not to like? I had an overnighter pencilled in for March and decided to make Tali Karng the destination. If not now, when, right? So, off I went to see the hidden lake.

Continuing the theme of slacker rides with seemingly more driving than riding, I decided to check out a climb that I’ve been hearing about for years now but have somehow managed to dodge despite multiple invitations to ride it – Mt Skene. It was beginning to seem like everyone had climbed this mountain except me so I put together a loop out of Jamieson that would put me near the top of the mountain, amongst the most scenic views, right around sunrise. Even a muppet with an iPhone would be hard pressed to take a bad shot up there at that time of day, surely?

Lady Talbot Drive is another road that’s been on my list for a long time. It climbs from Marysville up towards Lake Mountain and is feature-rich – it runs right next to a decent river, there’s waterfalls, huts, heaps of wildlife and it takes you up to Lake Mountain Ski Resort. What’s not to like? I decided to do another slacker ride the other weekend to check it out.

Mt Torbreck has been on my radar for a long time now. It’s the westernmost mountain in Victoria over 1500 metres and it sits somewhat removed from its neighbours so it stands to reason that the views from up top would be worth seeing. Only problem is that it doesn’t have a rideable road or track to the top – the last 2km to the summit is a steep and thoroughly unrideable walking track. I figured it was ripe for a mixed-mode solo mission so I headed out there for a day trip.

I’ve always wanted to check out the trails around Wombat/Gisborne area so this is the ride where I do that. And I’d love some company!

Start/finish at Sunbury station to meet the train (it’s now part of the suburban metro network i.e. NOT v-line, woohoo!). There’ll be some paved country roads to get out to Gisborne area where we’ll check out the trails around Hobbs Road and then it’s into Wombat State Forest to see the famous Wombat Track. Note: There’ll be LOTS of singletrack on this ride – feel free to ride a ‘crosser or whatever but make sure you know what you’re getting into. I’ll be on a rigid singlespeed 26er MTB so no speed records will be set though I’m planning to give FUN records a nudge.

Bring heaps of water, we’ll probably stop in at Gisborne or Woodend or something for food at some point. Also, if the stars align, we may meet up with a Wombat local mate who’ll play tour guide for us and laugh at our bikes. If you’re catching the train, get the 7:19am from Flinders Street or, even better, ride out to Sunbury!

This was a ride I did last winter and, in fact, it was the prototypical slacker ride. I wanted to do a “day” ride and I wanted to see some snow and I didn’t care if I had to drive a little and dodge some sleep to make that happen. I don’t know why I haven’t written it up until now but here it is, better late than never, my Pinnacles snow ride.

Due to unexpected stuff happening, I won’t be able to make it on this ride. If anyone was planning on coming, please still turn up and do the ride without me! The route map is accurate (enough) but shoot me an email if you want some notes on the less obvious parts of the course and I’ll tell you all I know. Oh, and take a few photos and I’ll post your writeup here.

I’ve got a long list of roads and trails I want to ride – this TWBD will seek to shorten that list a little. Centred around the Kinglake/Toolangi area, the highlights for me will be :

UP Bald Spur Road
DOWN power lines track on the other side
UP Andrew Hill
Connect from Myers Creek Road to Pauls Range (HAB!)
UP Hunts Lane
UP Mt Jerusalem Track
DOWN Mt Everard Track

There’ll be a lot of climbing. This is the first decent ride that I’ll do on a geared mountain bike (ever!) and I want to get my money’s worth! I can say there’ll be some very steep climbs, some singletrack and possibly some untracked hike-a-bike, in addition to the usual fireroads, gravel, paved roads etc. They’re the knowns. As for the unknowns, you’ll have to come out and see for yourself because I’ve got NFI.

Bring 2 bidons minimum; we’ll do lunch/beer at Toolangi Tavern; if you’ve got a choice of bike go for the one with the lowest gears (plural) and the fattest tires.

NOTE: This one’s on the Saturday!

UPDATE: Tobe and Al went and did this ride even though I couldn’t. Here’s their writeup and photos…

Good times up north! This will be a solid ride through some beautiful country. Straight north from Hurstbridge we’ll visit Mt Sugarloaf (because I’ve never actually been up there before) then down the other side towards Hazeldene before ducking into the Disappointment State Forest. We’ll keep heading north and pop out at Murchison Gap before flying down to Strath Creek Hotel for a beer. From there we’ll take an old fave, Upper King Parrot Creek Road, before climbing back up to Kinglake Central and then bombing down Bowden Spur Road and back to Hurstbridge.

Beautiful country, some paved roads, some dirt roads, some solid climbs and some screaming descents. And beer. What’s not to like?

9:30am start to cater for train commuters, I’ll be on a singlespeed with CX knobbies, bring 2 bidons or a bladder.

I had a milestone birthday coming up so we decided to take the family to Bright for a long weekend of food, booze and chasing the kids around. I figured I’d do a single day ride while we were up there but someone floated the idea of me riding up the day before, camping somewhere and then meeting up the next day in Bright. Works for me! So, I plotted a course from Traralgon to Bright that would take me up a road I’d had my eye on for a couple of years now – Dargo High Plains Road.